Sunday Brunch – Fig Tree Café

My favorite meal of the day, without a doubt, is brunch. Granted, I don’t do brunch on a daily (or even weekly/monthly) basis, but every once in a while it is a great way to kick off a lazy Sunday. Conveniently, we live in one of the few truly walk-able areas of San Diego, and on a sunny weekend morning there is nothing better than taking a casual stroll around the neighborhood that culminates in sitting down for a tasty meal.There are several places in Hillcrest that specialize in brunch. Our favorite, thus far, is the locally owned and operated Fig Tree Café. Fig Tree started out as a popular breakfast joint in Pacific Beach and only recently opened its second location on University Ave. It is definitely smaller and less well known than its local brunch competitors, but after sampling our way through the area, we both agree that the quality of the food and service (not to mention affordability) pushes Fig Tree to the top of our lists. One particular Sunday The Bat and I slipped in before the rush, grabbed a table for two and settled in for a meal we ended up terming Blinner, as it was filling enough to take us through the entire day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). We both started with Bloody Marys, spicy. What arrived was perfection – thick, vegetal, strong and peppery, with plenty of bite. The Bat is a sucker for Eggs Benedict, especially if a seafood variation is involved, so he settled quickly on the Crab Cake Benny (with avocado on the side). I, on the other hand, took my sweet time. I am not a sweet breakfast person typically, which is good when it comes to the excessive choice on the Fig Tree menu – at least I could immediately disregard the French toast/pancake options. After much debate between everything else, I finally decided on the Monterey scramble – eggs scrambled with scallions, bacon, Ortega chilies and Monterey Jack cheese and served with avocados, tomatoes, black beans, Spanish rice and tortillas. Breakfast tacos!Our food was, to put it bluntly, scrumptious. The Eggs Benedict was cooked perfectly, the yolk mingling with Hollandaise, avocado and chunks of real crab. The side of breakfast potatoes, normally an afterthought, almost stole the show, heavily seasoned, crispy and tossed with rosemary. My scramble was chock-full of chunks of bacon, strips of roasted chili and gooey pockets of melted cheese, perfect for layering with the smoky black beans and rice for tacos. The service was impeccable and, despite the relatively small space filling up while we were there and a line forming outside, we never felt hurried or rushed to leave.I am looking forward to returning for soon – the evening specials, written by hand on the roof-to-floor chalkboard adjacent to the bar sounded tremendous – braised meats and handmade pastas constructed from seasonal, locally sourced products. Not to mention the extensive wine list and great Happy Hour deals ($6 wine flights! $5 pizzas!). Last, but certainly not least, I must return to order their specialty – “Man Candy” – thick-cut bacon candied with brown sugar and paprika. How can that possibly be anything other than delicious?